


Buck of all trades

by fandom_irregular



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Gen, How Do I Tag, Skillset, a bit of angst, but not too much, i'm still new people, secretlysmart!Buck, skills, squint and you won't see it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25938772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fandom_irregular/pseuds/fandom_irregular
Summary: Five people that find out Buck's hidden skills and one that knew all along.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Athena Grant, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Bobby Nash, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley
Comments: 28
Kudos: 400





	Buck of all trades

**Author's Note:**

> So, a fair warning, I don't have any experience in any of the skillset that I talk about in this fic, I mean, seriously, I just found a lot of tutorials and instructions, hopefully they make sense.  
> Also, it was supposed to be a fun one shot where I sang the praises of one Evan Buckley but apparently I cannot stay away from angst. Don't worry, it's not much and everybody is happy most of the time!
> 
> Also a big shoutout to my amazing beta-reader, dream_editor!
> 
> Enjoy!

  1. _Chimney_



This was quickly becoming one of the worst calls Chim had ever responded to.

Not in terms of endangerment of life or destruction of properties, but he would have probably taken another earthquake every day for the rest of his life over the lady that was nagging him on his left.

“Are you sure you know what you are doing?”

“Yes ma’am, I’m a trained EMT, I know how to treat a twisted ankle.”

They had been called to the country club because of a small fire that had quickly spread to the stables. While the 118 had been busy dealing with extinguishing it, a member of the country club crew had called for help, informing them that somebody had hurt themselves while on the golf course. Bobby had quickly assessed the situation and decided to send Chimney out. He had gotten to the victim fast, thanks to using the last cart they had available. No other way of transport could get there. But now, Chimney was seriously regretting it.

Sure, even if it was just a twisted ankle he had to assist this person, even if, from the first look she had thrown at him, disgust had twisted her features. At least the small crowd that had formed around them seemed sympathetic.

A young man – _I’m Cory_ – had been the one to raise the alarm and was still sticking close to the fireman, nervousness shaking his limbs.

“You did great Cory” Chim said to him, trying to calm him down, and he was rewarded when a small smile appeared on Cory’s face.

“I didn’t do much, I was just trying to…” the kid stopped abruptly when he smacked his own hand against his neck. His eyes went wide and his breath itched.

“Cory? Cory, what’s wrong?”

“It was… a bee” Cory faltered, his eyes filled with fear finding Chimney’s “I’m allergic…”

He never managed to get to the end of the sentence, but the message had been clear.

Chimney all but threw himself towards the kid.

“Hey! What about me?” twisted-ankle lady shrieked.

Luckily for Chimney, another one of the bystanders approached her, holding onto her. There was nothing more to be done, as the paramedic had already wrapped the offending joint and relayed the aftercare instructions.

His focus was now clearly shifted on the young man who was having trouble drawing even the smallest of breaths.

Chimney opened up his bag and swiftly injected an epi-pen on the kid’s thigh, watching with some relief as it started to take effect. He knew though that he was in trouble.

He raised a hand to his radio.

“This is Chim, does anybody hear me? Over.”

“ _I’m listening Chimney, what do you need?”_ Buck’s voice was a surprise, as Chimney believed him to be in the thick of the fire at the main building. Or maybe it was a good sign, maybe they were all free and actually coming to check on him and his patient.

“I need somebody to bring over the medical bag with everything necessary for an anaphylactic shock.” his tone was a bit rude and needy, but he hoped that he would be forgiven once they realized the emergency.

Chimney shook his head again, while ruffling through his bag in search of another epi-pen or better yet some antihistamine, but to no avail.

Having treatments for different emergencies in separate bags had seemed a good idea until you actually brought only one to the location.

_“Anaphylactic shock? I though you were treating a twisted ankle??”_

“No time to explain, Buckaroo, I need that bag now!”

_“Ok, ok, I’m coming, I just need to find a cart…”_

“I took the last one to get here, Buck. Where is everybody?”

“ _Still trying to put out the fire at the stables, Cap was actually sending me to check on you since we hadn’t heard anything in a while…”_ Buck’s voice trailed off. “ _Ok Chim, I’ve got the bag, I’m going to be there in two minutes, ok?”_

“Two minutes?? How?”

No reply.

But Chim didn’t really have to time to focus on that, he could just trust his teammate.

He was adding an IV of saline to the kid’s arm, when twisted-ankle lady shrieked.

“Who is _that_?”

And nothing in his life could have prepared Howard Han for that sight once he turned in the direction of that pointed finger.

Because in front of him, a few hundred yards away, but clearly recognizable, was Evan Buckley.

On a horse.

He was running towards them – actually, _galloping,_ Chim’s mind offered him – body lowered to maximize speed.

Chim held his breath when the rider and mount got close to their position, as a fence separated the grounds from the actual golf course.

But apparently it was all for nothing, as they jumped the hurdle like it was an everyday activity for the two of them.

Chimney could only look on his teammate in awe, as he made his way closer and expertly stayed and calmed his horse, when the sudden presence of more people made it skittish.

Buck dismounted quickly and, while keeping a tight hold on the reigns, passed a medical bag to the astounded EMT.

“Did you sprout out of a Disney movie?” he heard himself ask, while focusing back on Cory.

Buck, on his part, laughed, just for a second, before settling next to him, ready to help.

Once they had Cory stabilized, Chim turned once again to his future brother-in-law.

“How did you do that, Sundance?”

“What?”

Chimney sighed, regretting the movie reference.

“Since when do you know how to ride?”

  1. _Athena_



Athena could already feel a headache forming while assessing the scene in front of her.

“And nobody actually had the brilliant idea to lock the weapons while they were not in use?”

The man in front of her – Jeffrey - shook his head strongly, his face contorted in a serious, worried expression. And she would take him seriously, if he weren’t dressed up as a jester, with bells jingling from his hat at every single movement.

Jeffrey was the organizer of the little renaissance festival that was taking place in Griffith Park, a small event that was going to last just for the weekend.

The festival had everything you could think of, fake taverns where you could try ale and mead, an almost-too-real throne room for pictures, an enclosure with horses and ponies for riders of all ages, and some events, like the jousting tournament of that afternoon. Or the dueling competition that was supposed to start half an hour earlier. When the crew had gone to retrieve the swords for the fight, they had found an open locker and the two swords missing.

Seriously? Who thought that having real non-blunt swords in a family-friendly environment was a good idea??

“Athena? Is that you?” a familiar voice called after her.

She turned in that direction and she was rewarded with the usual bright Buckley smile.

“Buck? What are you doing here?”

“Christopher heard about the fair from some classmates, so…” he shrugged, like that was enough of an explanation. And maybe, it really was.

The sergeant was still thinking of a reply when somebody came running at her.

A girl, one of the crew organizing the fair, stopped right in front of her, panting heavily.

“I… I found… I know where the stolen swords are!” and then she took off again, in the direction she had appeared from.

Athena rushed in pursuit of the running girl, not really paying attention when somebody murmured behind her.

“Stolen swords??”

She stopped deadly in her tracks once they arrived at the food court.

She could clearly see the swords now. In the hand of a young man who was jumping from one table to the next, laughing maniacally, while waving around the weapons. He suddenly dropped in a position akin to a crouch, keeping his body low and presenting one of the swords in a hold that spoke of knowledge in fencing.

“Who will be my challenger? Is it going to be you, sir? Or maybe one of the fair ladies over there wants to try her hand at combat?” he was slurring in his speech, clearly under the influence of something. If alcohol or drugs, Athena couldn’t be sure. But it didn’t really matter. “I am Sir Anthony, first knight of Gloucester, who will be my challenger?”

Definitely drugs.

“Sir! I need you to drop your weapons and get down to the ground now!” her voice rang loud in the small enclosure, quickly capturing the attention of the knight-wannabe. Her hand rested on her gun, still holstered at her hip, in hope that she could deescalate the situation without drawing her own weapon.

“Are you going to be my challenger?” he asked, jumping to the table right in front of her. He moved the sword towards her, and she sighed. Today was so not her day.

That’s when it went from bad to worse.

She moved her hand, trying to get a hold of one of the swords, when he smacked her hand away, dropping one of the weapons and then jumped down, too close to her, making her fall while trying to get a bit of distance.

“Ehi!”

The rambling guy swiftly turned towards the yell. Athena’s head dropped one notch, clearly recognizing the source.

Buck was standing a few feet behind her, his stance wide and confident.

“I’ll be your challenger!” he continued.

“Buckaroo…” Athena hoped that the tone in her voice was clear enough to convince the young man – the kid, she thought – to leave the scene and find somewhere safe to go to. But she knew Buck.

“What are the rules of the duel, sir?”

On his part, Sir Anthony smiled brilliantly, retrieving the dropped sword.

“En garde!” he shouted, tossing the sword in his direction.

Luckily, the sword was rightly balanced and the small arc the weapon took ended with the hilt going down first.

Buck snatched it from the air, steady hand gripping the fake-brass hilt, following the motion and ending it with the sword pointed at the floor.

He swiped it left and right for a few moments, studying its movements for a while, before his stare settled back on the wannabe knight.

He squatted a bit, widening his stance, before using his left hand in a clear invite motion.

The opposing guy did not need to be told twice. He quickly stepped forward, sword pointed straight at Buck, swiping it to attack from his left.

Buck fell back two steps, raising his own weapon, and the two clanged together, the sound following the rhythm of their steps.

Right foot. Left foot.

Buck smirked towards the opponent, and started going on the offence.

He lunged at Anthony, scraping down the length of the steel with his own sword.

Right foot. Left foot.

The other swordsman was obligated to rush into defense, raising the blade just quick enough to stop three sharps hit, one after the other, a relentless incoming assault with no pauses.

Like in a dance with no music, one step after the other, the two contenders glided in between benches and tables, circling each other in an absolute silence, only seldom interrupted by grunts of effort.

Buck parried again an attack, swinging back and forth on his feet, grinning wildly while alternating lunges and parries, attack and defense, the clanging of the swords creating an intricate music that only the contenders seemed to know the rhythm of.

And then, under Athena’s concerned gaze, she noticed the small smirk that appeared on her friend’s face. His inability of restraining his expression was only one of – if not the – main reasons he was such a bad poker player. He couldn’t bluff. And right now, whatever had passed through his mind had put a new spark in his eyes.

The sergeant could only watch in amusement as, hit after hit, opponents’ faces separated only by the presence of their swords clashing against each other, Buck deliberately stepped sideways, out of the rhythmic, continuous circling that the combatants had been engaged into until that second.

Sir Anthony, who had put all his weight behind his latest attack, could only shriek loudly in the “arena”, as the constant presence of his enemy suddenly vanished and he was sent flying to the ground by his own power.

Athena didn’t even see the nod that Buck sent her way, as she run towards the fallen man and quickly handcuffed him. On his part, the man looked bewildered towards his opponent.

“You…” he spluttered, dirt and dust settling around him “You cheated.”

Buck stopped for a second at those words and then, smiling slyly, dropped to a crouch right in front of him.

“I never did such a thing. I asked what the rules of the duel were, and you didn’t say anything. Thus, no rules were broken. And you literally cannot accuse me of cheating.”

“But I can accuse you of being a dumbass” Athena huffed in his direction, before pushing sir Anthony - or Anthony Marks, according to his ID – into the waiting arms of another LAPD officer “What were you thinking?”

Buck turned to her, surprise in his features.

“Me? He was going to slice you up, I couldn’t let him do that! Not if I could help!”

Athena scowled at him.

“Buckaroo, you could have hurt yourself. Or he could have hurt you.”

He smiled a bit shyly in her direction at first, but then a full on Buckley smile illuminated his face.

“Not possible. You are talking to a three-time fencing champion for the state of Pennsylvania.”

“They trusted you with weapons back home?”

She meant it as a joke, but she clearly hit a nerve, as his face fell and he started to move away. She quickly grabbed his arm.

“Buckaroo…” he still wouldn’t look at her “Thank you.”

He finally met her gaze.

“Now, what do you say we go and try to find your Diazes before they start scouring the whole park looking for you?

  1. _Eddie_



The LAPD was looking at them like they were the damsels in distress of the story, and they were certainly not the one to the rescue.

It’s the yearly LAPD vs LAFD games and up until that moment the two teams seemed on equal grounds, no one really standing out.

Eddie had been having fun looking at the various matches, earning loud cheers when he had won the wrestling challenge for his department.

But now, the LAFD was in trouble.

Christine Conners, the fire-fighter from the 136 that was supposed to be their representative in the archery challenge, had just called out because one of her kids had been brought to the hospital. Nothing life threatening, but the 8-year-old had wanted his mommy while they prepared the cast for his broken wrist. She couldn’t refuse.

And now they were one team member down.

“Come on, Greg, let me do the archery challenge!” Leah Stetson, from the 75, was almost pleading with the referee. Greg Holden had worked for both departments, so he was considered the best impartial referee they could ever have. But this time his sticking-to-the-rules attitude was actually working against the LAFD.

“I’m sorry, Leah, but you are down for the climbing challenge. Unless you decide not to do that one, you cannot compete in this round.”

Leah looked at the others members of the LAFD team, but everybody knew she was their best bet for climbing, having been a silver medalist at the last Olympics.

“I could do it.” a new voice entered the fray.

Eddie whipped his head back to the side so fast he knew he was going to feel it in the morning.

“Buck? What are you…?

“Well, everybody could hear you guys discussing the issue from the bleachers… you need somebody for the challenge? I’m in!” he smiled and then started introducing himself to everybody.

“And you are…?” Steve Johnson, the archer from the LAPD team, inquired, his voice carrying well from the other side of the raised platform, where the contestants were standing.

“Evan Buckley, 118. I work with Eddie.”

Greg nodded in recognition, writing down his name on the challenge board.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Leah came closer again, doubts clear in her voice.

Buck chuckled.

“I took some archery classes back when I was a kid.” He shrugged. “A bow and arrow are always a bow and arrow, am I right?”

She rolled her eyes and stepped off the platform, while the LAPD team members high-fived each other.

Eddie kept his eyes on Buck and noticed how he looked like he was trying not to get bothered by them, or even by the other firefighters when they mumbled that at least they were not going to get disqualified. The former Army man almost stepped up at that, but Buck just shook his head in his direction.

How was he able to remain this calm?

One thing was making fun of a situation, one was being utterly and evidently rude.

“Ehi, dude, you are putting the arm guard on the wrong arm!” Steve grinned from his position in front of the targets.

Buck, who had been playing a bit with the simple bow he had been given, pulling at it with his right hand, stopped abruptly while tying the string of the bracer on his forearm. He smiled shyly in response to the policeman, and quickly moved to change the position of the leather strip to the opposite arm.

Something wasn’t right. Eddie thought.

On any other day, Buck would have fumbled, blushing from embarrassment at having been called out for a mistake in front of so many people. Instead, Eddie noticed, he took it in stride, the picture of calm and duty never straining from his figure.

He didn’t have the time to think about the matter though, because Greg stepped up to the microphone to lay down the rules of the game.

“The challenge is simple. Both contestants have 3 targets in front of them. One player per turn will fire an arrow at each target. Depending on which circle of the target you hit you get a certain amount of points. Whoever gets the highest score wins. In case of a tie, the contestant that fired the three arrows in the minimum amount of time will get the point for his team. Is that clear for everybody?”

“Clear enough for me!” Steve chuckled again, throwing an arrogant look in Buck’s direction “Do you want to go first, kid? Or maybe I should?”

Buck seemed to think about it, fumbling a bit with the bow. It was a normal, simple bow, nothing complicated like the ones used in the Olympics, all sleek lines and smooth curves, hiding what could actually be a formidable weapon.

“You should probably go first” he replied, testing the string in his hand, swaying on his feet. He seemed to come to some sort of realization. “Actually… maybe you should do all your rounds first… I mean… ”

“Sure, kid, if the referee agrees” Steve didn’t let him finish, not even trying to hide his laughter while checking with Greg.

“I don’t see why not…” the referee quickly agreed.

And there it was, the start of the challenge. And while Eddie stood with his teammates, booing in a jokingly manner at the other team, he couldn’t help but frown about what was happening next to him.

The guy on his right looked like Buck and was kind of behaving like Buck and probably, to any untrained eye, the young man seemed the same as usual. But to Eddie, somebody who knew the guy, probably better than anyone, this… this person next to him was a complete mystery. He came back to the present when Steve started talking to them once again.

“What do you think about that, kid?”

They took notice of where the arrows had landed. Two in the 9 points ring and one in the 8.

“Not bad!”

Steve didn’t bother with continuing the awkward conversation, he just saluted and pointed at Buck’s targets.

Buck bowed his head, smirked sideways at Eddie and then he was off.

And that was when the last stage of Buck’s metamorphosis took place.

He stood straighter than ever and, in a quick move drew one arrow, the muscles in his back tightening to hold the position. Not for long, as in the moment the fletching touched his lips, Evan closed one eye and let the arrow loose. It sank into the target with a loud thud, but Buck wasn’t there anymore to admire the feat.

He was already walking to the next target, grabbing a second arrow from the ones at their disposal. He stopped for a second, just to repeat the motion.

Arrow. Fletching. Lips. Loose.

Eddie could only stare as his teammate moved gracefully to the last target, quickly waved at the astounded quiet crowd and looked back at the red circle in front of him, a grin illuminating his face.

Arrow. Fletching. Lips. Loose.

The thud of the arrow hitting the board was loud in the silence surrounding the competitors.

For a moment there was no sound in the arena, as judge and audience admired the performance of a last-minute substitution.

All three arrows were inches deep in the dead centers of their targets.

It didn’t take long for Greg to assign the point to the LAFD team.

Eddie walked over to Buck and gripped him on his shoulder while he was putting back the bow in his hold.

“That was amazing! But… How?”

“I never said I don’t still shoot a bow every now and again.” Buck easily replied, a small smile appearing on his face.

“But… at the… at the beginning… with the arm guard?” Eddie was confused… had it all been a ruse?

“Oh, that!” Buck scratched at his head, a rose tint quietly appearing on his face “I was going to shoot with my left hand since I’m better trained with my right, but then Johnson was kind of a jerk, so I thought… why not use my better arm?”

Eddie stood still for a second, absorbing the information.

His own laughter caught him by surprise, quickly setting Buck off as well.

Once they calmed down, Eddie quickly patted Buck’s back, letting his hand rest on the nape of his neck, while quickly guiding him towards the stage with the other LAFD members.

“Come on, Hawkeye, let’s see what the crowd has to say to their new number one archer.”

  1. _Hen_



Hen loved her job.

When people were in danger, when people needed help, the fact that she was able to lend a hand, bring back loved ones to their families, to give them a fighting chance, always brought a smile to her face, and reassured her that she was making a difference.

Today’s call was not even a bad one. She refused to call it easy, because there is never anything easy about responding to a multi-vehicle collision on the highway.

But fortunately for everybody involved, there were mainly scraps and bruises, with the worst injury being the broken wrist of the young man she was treating at the moment.

“I’m gonna get the arm brace!” Buck called out enthusiastically in her direction, before jogging off towards the parked 118 ambulance.

Hen only chuckled at the younger man’s antics.

Buck had helped out in freeing the people from their cars and, once that had been dealt with, he had been more than happy to help to treat the wounded.

He was studying to get his certification for the next level of first responder, and he had expressed to Hen the idea that he wanted to be more than just the hotshot with the daring maneuvers, that he would also like to help on the ground if necessary. He hadn’t looked at her while talking, doubts and concerns clearly running through his head, almost as if he expected her to laugh at him for such an idea.

Instead, she had quickly wrapped him in a big hug, telling him how proud she was of his decision.

She had felt like a big sister in that moment and, even if Evan already had Maddie, the boy could use all the love she could give.

“Is he always so… energetic?” the injured man – Theo – shyly whispered the question to her, while she finished wrapping his wrist tightly. His cheeks abruptly flushed pink, and only now Hen realized that the slightly faster heartbeat she registered was not because of the accident he had been involved in, but because of Buck’s presence.

“Yes, always!” Chim appeared behind her without a sound, Bobby right on his heel, and happily replied, barely containing a laughter. Buck was in full “sunshine mode” as Chim had dubbed it months ago, and it clearly reflected on everybody around him. Even on Bobby, who scowled back his features due to the nature of the moment.

“The tow trucks are almost finished removing the cars from the middle of the street, we are almost ready to go. How is it going here?”

“Almost done, just waiting for Buckaroo for the brace, then we can bring Theo to the hospital.”

“Good. We are lucky there were only minor injuries. Still, it’s not stopping Athena from dealing with the driver that caused all of this. He came out of the accident almost without a scratch.” Bobby shook his head, amazed at the luck that certain people had.

“Athena is here?” Hen asked, quickly turning around until – yes – she spotted her friend giving the biggest dress-down in history, if she were to judge from the driver’s dismayed expression. Athena was really good at those.

She completed the round, her eyes falling on the ambulance Buck had run to. She raised from her crouched position and nodded toward Chimney.

“Can you keep an eye on Theo? I’m gonna check on Buck. I’m not sure he knows where we store the braces.” She said, even when she knew that Buck had been there the last time they restocked the ambulance.

Hen quickly trotted over, calling out to her teammate from a few steps away, before he got into her line of sight.

“Hey Buckaroo, what’s taking…”

Her voice jammed into the back of her throat at the sight of a gun. A gun pointed at her friend’s head.

Two men were standing next to Buck, the lower halves of their faces covered with scarves. The one with the gun shifted quickly on his feet, pointing his weapon at her just for a second, before moving it back to Buck, a hint of a smile morphing what little of his features she could see.

“And now that your friend decided to join us, are you going to cooperate faster?”

The other guy, closer to her, started waving around his hands, twitching his body nervously, while a quick flash of reflected sunlight informed her that he was holding a knife.

“Yes, yes, do what he says! Give us the drugs, give us everything you have!”

Ok. They wanted drugs.

They had protocols for this kind of scenarios, and Hen felt her shoulders relax a bit with the comfort born of training raising in her.

_Give them what they won’t, nothing is worth you getting injured._

That didn’t mean they were not in trouble, though.

The guy with the knife, in particular, seemed too agitated not to try to do anything stupid anyway.

Buck, hands raised high, slightly turned to face Gun-guy.

“I’ll give you what we have, I just need to reach inside to get it, okay?”

_Always telegraph your intentions and movements, you don’t want to spook the guy with the weapons._

Hen had been so focused on Buck that she noticed a second too late that Knife-dude had stepped up to her.

“You are really pretty, aren’t you?” the hand with the knife waived closer to her face and she couldn’t stop herself from flinching.

Buck stopped in the middle of pulling the drug cabinet and turned to face them once again.

“Come on, boy, move!” Gun-guy hissed.

“Do not touch her.”

Hen had never heard Buck’s voice so low, almost a growl against the two assailants in front of them.

His usual expressive face, more used to big smile and loud laughter, suddenly collapsed into a blank canvas, the usual shine of his electric blue eyes crystallized to frozen ice.

Hen couldn’t reconcile the person in front of her with the bright, sunshine-bringer, golden retriever embodiment that was Evan Buckley.

“Boy, I said move!” Gun-guy yelled, raising his weapon once again.

For the next few moments, everything moved too quickly and in slow motion at the same time for Hen.

The first guy pushed his gun almost in direct contact with Buck’s chest, while the one wielding the knife spun around to support his partner.

It was at this point that Buck moved.

His left arm suddenly shot upwards, grabbing the hand holding the gun, raising it to point above their heads. A shot rand loudly in the enclosed space, while Buck quickly spun around in a 360° turn. The assailant quickly let go of the weapon, while also releasing a loud yell as the pull on his wrist got to the edge of breaking it.

Finishing his spin, Buck raised his other hand, flat palm first, and quickly jabbed it at the other man’s throat. The guy dropped to the floor unconscious.

Knife-dude chose that moment to attack, going straight towards Buck, blade pointed right at the middle of his chest.

On his part, Buck kept the motion going, and blocked the incoming assault with his forearm. He groaned when the attacker managed to slice through the sleeve fabric and the skin underneath, blood flowing fast and pouring out the wound.

Buck managed to grab a hold of the guy’s weapon and, while keeping it pointed to the ground, stepped up with a fast punch from his left to the other man’s temple. The guy fell to the floor without so much as a whimper.

For less than a second, the only sound in the small space was Buck’s heavy panting, while Hen could only look on the situation, still frozen on the spot.

After that, Athena showed up from behind them, gun raised in front of her, ready to be pointed towards the danger.

She was saying something, but Hen could only focus on Buck, on his pale face, his eyes, his body stuck in place.

“What happened here?” Athena’s words finally reached her, snapping her out of the frozen spot she had been rooted to. Hen looked at her friend crouching down to remove the weapons from the assailants’ reach, while Bobby appeared out of nowhere, concern in his features. Hen took that moment to calm down her erratic breathing, while she watched as Buck tried – and failed – to put himself back together, eyes wide still locked on the ground betraying the inner turmoil he was trying to weather through.

“They…” he stammered “they wanted the drugs in the ambulance.”

Hen looked at Buck. He lowered his head.

Was that shame?

He picked at his hands, the easiest way he had to cover their trembling, now that the danger was passed.

Before anybody else could speak, particularly before Bobby started to mention anything about their protocols and such, Hen quickly added.

“They… one of them tried to… I guess grab me?” her voice sounded unsure even to her own ears, but the terror that she had felt when the knife had circled close to her skin had been a level of panic she had never felt before. And she owed it to Buck to explain that he had done the only thing he could that could keep her safe.

Still, his eyes stayed on the ground, rapidly blinking and moving in between the two bodies on the ground.

“Somebody should check on them. I hit them pretty hard.”

Hen could almost see the cogs of the amazing and complicated mind of one Evan Buckley narrowing the focus of what just happened to the fact that he had hurt those people, never mind that they had been ready to harm them first.

Hen knew what she had to do.

Her hand slowly raised and then hovered over his shoulder, landing there in the hope to transmit all the love and care that she felt towards the younger man.

“Buck.”

Only when she called him, his eyes finally raised to meet hers.

“Thank you for saving my life.”

  1. _Bobby_



Bobby promised himself to never do this again.

He would never accompany Buck to a shopping mall ever again.

Yep. That was it. Never again.

Every time he finally seemed to settle on a choice, he moved two feet, his eyes landed on something else, doubts started creeping in his mind, and it was the start of this adventure all over again.

But then, Buck always looked at him with that big, enthusiastic smile of his, asking his opinion on the different options at their disposal and Bobby couldn’t help but grin in return, content in seeing Buck happy.

A few days before, Buck had approached him and asked for help about the baby shower that Maddie and Chimney were organizing for their baby. Or the Madney’s baby, as Buck had started to call her. Yes, he was convinced it was going to be a baby girl, never mind the fact that his sister and his future brother-in-law had insisted on keeping the surprise and on not knowing the sex of the baby until the birth.

Now Bobby found himself looking at different possible gifts to bring to the party, trying to put some sense into the mind of the soon-to-be uncle.

They were evaluating different strollers in front of them – _look at this Bobby, it can turn into a car seat!_ – when they heard a loud yell coming from the entrance of the store. The two men looked at each other and, with no hesitation, started to move in that direction. The scene started to unravel in front of them. A security guard had been the source of the yell, his hand holding tight on the arm of a woman who was squirming, trying to slip away from the hard grasp.

She was moaning, maybe in pain, while her eyes kept darting around them, in search of something.

“What’s going on here?” Bobby asked, getting one step closer to them.

“Nothing to concern you, sir, just…”

The guard was interrupted by the woman, who was now actively trying to shove him away from her. When that didn’t work, she moved one of her hands in front of her, as much as she could in the clutches of the man, closed it into fist and then slowly opening it.

“If you keep resisting me and not cooperating, I’ll have to tell the police” the guard – Paul, according to the name tag on his uniform - continued, pushing her hard in front of him, towards the wall.

“She’s asking you to let her go.”

Bobby turned towards Buck, surprised by the tone of his voice. It was calm, firm and serious in a way that he never heard before.

“She’s deaf” the younger man continued, his eyes trained on the guard “ and the way you are holding her is blocking her from speaking.”

“I don’t care what she is, she just tried to rob the store!” 

Paul pointed sharply to some items of clothing lying on the floor next to them.

Buck’s stare got dark for a second and then he deliberately stepped in front of the lady.

He looked straight into her eyes and once he was sure she was following him, he raised his hands in front of himself, palms up, waived them quickly in between them and then raised one to his lips, only thumb and pinky sticking out, while he slowly enunciated.

“What’s wrong?”

The woman’s eyes widened in surprise, and tears filled them, before she started twisting and fluttering her own hands, no sound coming from her mouth.

Buck’s hands moved again, this time with one trailing upwards, on top of the opposite arm. He concluded with circling his flat palm in front of his chest.

“Slow down, please.”

The woman nodded and re-started her movements, this time sticking to two simple actions she repeated over and over.

She circled her arm from her forehead into what to Bobby looked like a cradle and then, her opened right hand closing up while sliding through her left.

Buck quickly nodded and looked over to Bobby and Paul.

“Her son is missing”

Both Bobby and the guard stood straighter at those words, Paul quickly releasing the hold he had on the woman, who was now gesturing again towards Buck.

She made the cradle gesture again, then repeatedly hit her right index and middle finger on the ones of her left. She then held her hand in between them, quickly folding and releasing each finger in what Bobby knew to be the Sign Alphabet. Her index finger paused next her ear, before all gestures came to a halt.

Buck nodded again in her direction and without leaving her gaze, continued to speak.

“His name is Roberto, he’s 8 years old and he’s deaf as well.” He kept his attention on the woman – Maria, he relayed – who waived her hands again in his direction “He’s wearing a striped, blue – that is blue, right? – and white t-shirt, and… jeans?”

Bobby couldn’t move his gaze from the image of Buck flexing his fingers, spelling out the words he wasn’t sure of, with Maria nodding her head, eyes filled with tears.

“Everything is gonna be alright.” Buck’s voice was warm, calm and the gestures he aimed at Maria followed that quiet rhythm, while the hand she had on his arm tighten just for a second, before deep breaths placate her trembling frame.

“Roberto!” Paul shouted, breaking the moment and startling those who could hear him.

“He just said that he’s deaf.” Bobby scowled in the guard’s direction, shaking his head. At least, the other man had the decency of apologizing, as a faint blush colored his cheeks.

“Oh, yeah, right… I was…” the guard stuttered “I was standing at the entrance the whole time, I didn’t see any kid leave… so he should still be here in the shop.”

Bobby and Buck nodded towards him, and quickly spread out to cover the whole shop with Maria and Paul.

Bobby was pushing through the strollers they had been looking at when trouble had started, when he heard the quiet, warm voice that Buck usually reserved for kids coming from his right.

“Hi! You must be Roberto.”

Bobby moved closer to the source of the sounds, not surprised in finding the younger man kneeling down, a few steps away from a kid that was huddled in the corner of the store. His hands were clearly visible in between the two of them. Buck’s words were slow, probably to keep up with the signs he was making.

“My name is Buck. I’m with the LAFD. Your mom is looking for you.”

The kid nodded and slowly raised to his feet, holding out a hand that Buck was quick in grabbing.

A second later, both firefighters were spectators of the mother-son reunion and, even if Bobby couldn’t understand sign language, he could recognize the big scolding that took place between Maria and her kid.

They quickly left the store after that, not really interested in continuing their shopping anymore. But before they reached their cars, Bobby had to ask.

“Since when do you know sign language?”

Buck scraped at his neck, his eyes not meeting the captain’s for a second.

“I… do you remember that fire a few months ago, when we didn’t see Gladys, the deaf woman that was hiding in the living room?”

“Yeah, of course, when you came up with the rope rescue from the next building.” Bobby nodded. It would have been impossible for him to forget a case where his youngest had put his life on the line – or the rope in this case – and took away ten years of his life when both the woman and him had plummeted towards the ground from a 100-foot height. He still had nightmares about it sometimes.

“Well, after that, I… I told myself that if I ever found myself in a similar situation, I wanted to… to be able to talk with the victim without having to rely on writing or dispatch to link us. So… I started following some classes online.”

Buck’s eyes were still on the ground, flushed cheeks indicating the uneasiness that had already showed up in his trembling words.

“That is a great idea, kid.”

Buck’s head snapped upwards so fast that Bobby almost winced on his part.

“I… Thank you.”

The younger man’s eyes were huge, almost taken aback by his words, and Bobby felt some remorse at the idea that Buck found his compliments something this surprising.

“You really helped out today, and managed to get a hold of the situation before it could get any worse. I’m really proud of you, Buck.”

_+1. Maddie_

“Stop playing with it!” Maddie said, exasperated, and went back to fix her brother’s tie.

She knew he didn’t like wearing one, she wasn’t a big fan of formal dresses either, but this was a formal occasion, so he – they – would just have to deal with it.

He very maturely stuck his tongue out in her direction.

“Hey, if you didn’t want to be here, you shouldn’t have played hero!” Chim teased next to her.

The week before, the 118 had responded to a massive fire that had broken out at a fancy 5-star hotel. While most of the people had managed to get out without a scratch, a seventeen-year-old girl had been trapped in her family suite room on the 8th floor.

They had had to do a rope rescue, and Buck had been the lucky performer.

What they had not known prior to the saving, was that the girl was the daughter of a foreigner diplomat, visiting the US for the first time.  
Once the kid had been back in the caring arms of her family, her father had been quick in saying that he was going to repay the debt in some way.

It didn’t matter how much Buck had said that he was just doing his job, Ambassador Vargas had been unmovable in his conviction.

So that was how they found themselves – the whole 118 and partners – invited at a formal dinner at the Bolivian Embassy. It could either be the biggest PR achievement that the Fire Department had in its history or its biggest nightmare.

Up until that moment, they had managed to navigate through dinner without any big embarrassment, the closest close call being Eddie almost using the wrong fork when the salad was served. It certainly wouldn’t have been a diplomatic incident, but the PR department would have had his head the next time they saw him.  
Luckily, Buck had quickly stepped in, and nudged him to use the correct one.

“Did you study for the occasion?” Hen had laughed quietly, seated in front of him.

“Something like that…” Buck had replied, a shrug of his shoulders the only companion to his short reply.

Though, nobody had missed the quick glance and smirk that the Buckley siblings had exchanged right after that.

The 118 hadn’t had a chance to investigate it any further throughout the rest of the dinner, as the meals were served and conversations with the other guests were held.

But now, now the real event and trouble could actually start.

All the dinner tables were now being moved to the side by the efficient personnel, and the big dining room was quickly becoming a ballroom.

Buck kept fidgeting on his feet, while entertaining anyone who was listening with information on any of the paintings that were hanging on the walls.

Anyone looking in on the situation would see the nervousness radiating from the young firefighter. _And who could blame him?_ Hen thought. _It’s not really our scene._

“Could I have this dance?”

They all turned towards Maria, the young girl that had started all of this. She was smiling shyly at Buck.

He responded in kind, a bright smile illuminating his face, and slowly performed a deep bow, prompting a low chuckle from the girl.

“It would be my pleasure.”

He offered her his arm and then, they were off, toward the centre of the room.

“Maybe someone should tell him that it’s not like prom…?” Chim whispered quietly, when the sound of violins filled the air.

Maddie pushed him lightly, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“I wouldn’t worry about him, Howie. He knows what he’s doing.”

There was an edge to her voice, like daring anybody to challenge her statement.

Nobody had even the time to consider it though, because that was when the music actually picked up and all the dancers in the ballroom moved.

At that point the rest of the 118 could only stare as Buck expertly guided Maria on the dance floor.

He looked at ease with the fast pacing, smiling while holding the girl’s hand and twirling her around the moment the music suggested so.

One, two, three. One, two, three.

Left foot forward, right to the side, close. Right backwards, left to the side, close. Maria followed him, her eyes never leaving his, laughing when he started telling her about something they couldn’t hear from the distance.

Left, right, close. Right, left, close.

Not once he fumbled through the steps. Not once he was insecure in the sequence.

“The waltz was always his favorite.” Maddie recalled, love coloring her words, her focus shifted on the past. The memories of a 6-years-old Evan, all dressed up in the smallest tux she had ever seen, gliding on the dance floor with that big smile of his.

The 118 moved as one entity to look at her, a simple question clearly evident in their minds.

_How?_

She smiled, a bit shyly, a bit sadly.

“When we were young, Buck and I… our parents didn’t…” She fumbled a bit, trying to find the right words “They had enough money to pay a thousand instructors, so they enrolled us in any activity they could find, from debate classes, to ballroom dancing…”

“Fencing…” Athena added.

“Archery…” Eddie whispered.

“Horse riding.” Chim concluded.

Maddie looked again over to her brother, who was now bowing at Maria, the last few notes of music hanging in the air for a few more moments.

As her father approached the young girl, Maddie started toward her brother, his smile getting wider when he noticed her approach.

“Can I have this dance?” she laughed.

They had always been the best partners on the dance floor.

He bowed again, this time chuckling without reserve at the absurdity of the situation. They had grown up in this kind of formalities, a reception here, a gala there, charity events… they probably were the only times they actually spent with their parents. For all the activities their parents had enrolled them in, they had not really bothered to show up at any competition, or award ceremonies. Still, the Buckley siblings had been there for each other, at least until Maddie had left for college.

This was a good time as any other to strengthen again the bond that had frayed under three years of missed calls and visits.

She held her brother’s hand tighter and let him guide her on the floor.

“Time to show off” she said, fake seriousness in her voice, which was evidently contrasted by the smile in her face and the glint in her eyes.

His laughter was music to her ears.

**Author's Note:**

> So... what did you think?  
> Let me know if I should add some tags, I'm still new at this!
> 
> Reviews and comments are always welcome!


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